(It's really not about the cup.)

Happy New Year!

I haven’t written anything in this new year mostly because — at some point in 2017 — my life became insanely busy.

Pink Cup Sister, who has a learning disability and a social anxiety disorder, now has the symptoms of a severe tic disorder. This disorder includes vocal, phonic, and motor tics, the latter of which pose such safety hazards as uncontrollable self-injury and episodes occurring where falling is a possibility.

Unfortunately, I have uncovered a health concern of my own as well involving my vision/optic nerves.

Now, Frances and I have always had an amply full schedule of appointments that has kept me very busy; with the added appointments of Pink Cup Sister and of myself, well, let’s just say that appointments are now my full-time job.

But that’s okay — it means that things are getting taken care of, challenges are being identified and overcome, and matters are being addressed in general.

And, fortunately, amid all the worrying and the hurrying, there are some moments that catch you off guard, ones that leave you breathless and utterly aware of how much there is to appreciate.

Perhaps you won’t be surprised to learn that it is often my children who gift me with these moments; in the case of Frances, the gift is often in the form of questions that allow me a glimpse of how amazing her brain is.

The other day, while I was taking her to school, the following:

Her: Did you ever realize that, if everyone just followed the rules, there would be no drama in the world?

Me: You are SO right!

We then, giggling, ran through the zebra crossing while stepping only on the black stripes, just because, and I felt light and giddy and free of concerns about the year ahead in that moment.